Lónghuá Temple & Pagoda

Buddhist Temple in Xújiāhuì & South Shànghǎi

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Image by Pixelerie Five Hundred Pixels

Shànghǎi's oldest and largest monastery is named after the pipal tree (lónghuá) under which Buddha achieved enlightenment. Trees are decorated with red lanterns, incense smoke fills the front of the grounds and monks can regularly be heard chanting, making this one of the city's most atmospheric sites. The much-renovated temple is said to date from the 10th century.

Details

The main halls to visit on the complex are Mile Dian (Maitreya Hall), Tianwang Dian (Hall of Heavenly Kings), Daxiongbao Dian (Grand Hall of the Great Sage), Sānshèng Dian (Three Sages Hall) and the Laughing Buddha Hall; note the four huge Heavenly Kings, each in charge of a compass point. The temple is particularly famed for its 6500kg bell, cast in 1894.

A large effigy of Shakyamuni seated on a lotus flower resides within the main hall (Daxiongbao Dian), while the the Sānshèng Dian holds a golden trinity of Buddhist statues. Also on the complex is the Thousand Luóhàn Hall, sheltering a huge legion of glittering arhat.

There's a vegetarian restaurant on-site too.

Opposite the temple entrance rises the seven-storey, 44m-high Lónghuá Pagoda, originally built in AD 977. Visitors are not allowed to climb it.

The best time to visit is during the Lónghuá Temple Fair, in the third month of the lunar calendar (usually during April or May).

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